Real Friends

After being overseas for most of her life because her father is in the military, 14-year-old Cassandra "Cassie" Mason is finally returning to the U.S. to finish her remaining three years of high school in Arlington, Virginia, without interruption. Two months into the school year, Cassie meets another new student, Helen Holsinger, who soon becomes her best friend. However, Cassie's parents disapprove of Helen and believe she's a bad influence on Cassie when Cassie's grades start to drop, she starts avoiding old friends (like nerdy Susan Carpenter) that Helen doesn't like, and she skips school and makes rude outbursts during class. Cassie refuses to listen to her parents, though, and continues seeing Helen. But could her parents be right--could Helen just be a bad influence on her and getting her into more trouble than their friendship is worth?I thought "Real Friends" was a pretty good book about adolescent friendships. However, I was a little confused about Cassie's real last name. In the synopsis it's Mason, but in other parts of the book she's called Winn. I suppose it's not very important, but that's the one thing that bugged me about this book--the inconsistencies.Recommended for 12+ year-old girls.